Data last verified: 30 October 2026. Figures re-checked against their primary sources under the Whito rolling re-verification programme.
Finding
In the first Whito Truth Index (30 October 2026), prices were the thing UK businesses most often left off their websites: 24 of 179 emergency plumber websites showed a call-out price in pounds, and 3 of 50 marketing agencies published any price.
Source: Whito, whito.co.uk/research/truth-index. Free to quote with a link to this page.
Last Updated on October 30, 2026
First edition: 30 October 2026. Every row below comes from a study Whito ran itself, and links to its method.
The Whito Truth Index asks three simple questions about UK business. Can customers and AI tools find you? Can people check you are who you say you are? Can buyers see what it costs?
We do not give anyone a score. Each row is one test we ran, the count we found and the date we checked. That way you can see exactly what each answer rests on.
Found: AI tools rarely agree on which local business to recommend, and their answers change when you ask again.
Trusted: most of what we can check against official records holds up, but there are gaps, and some are required by law.
Priced: the price is the thing UK businesses most often leave off their websites.
Found
Can customers and AI tools find you?
When we asked three AI engines for the best local tradesperson, all three never picked the same business. Two agreed in just one question out of twelve.
36 answers, four trades, run on 30 June 2026. Read the study
ChatGPT and Gemini named 99 different businesses across eight trades in Manchester. Only five were named by both.
Eight trades, Manchester, September 2026. Read the study
We asked AI assistants the same 60 questions a second time. Just over half of the businesses they named the first time came back.
Data last verified 27 October 2026. Read the study
Trusted
Can people check you are who you say you are?
Limited-company trade and dental websites that showed their company number. The other 46 did not, even though UK company law requires it on company websites.
Data last verified 14 October 2026. Read the study
Active companies in the Whito directory where every director had verified their identity at Companies House.
Read on 29 October 2026. Read the study
Checkable claims that AI tools made about home care agencies which matched the official regulator’s register exactly.
Published 29 October 2026. Read the study
Priced
Can buyers see what it costs?
UK marketing agencies that published any price at all on their website.
50 agencies, 10 cities, July 2026. Read the study
Emergency plumber websites that showed a call-out price in pounds.
Eight towns, checked 2 October 2026. Read the study
English care homes that published a weekly fee on their website.
October 2026. Read the study
Solicitor price pages that quoted the current probate court fee. The other 26 still showed the old one.
October 2026. Read the study
Agency pricing pages that said how and when a client can leave.
September 2026. Read the study
How the index is built
- Only our own checks. Every row is a study Whito ran itself. We do not use other people’s surveys or estimates.
- No blended score. We do not add the rows together into one number. That would mean deciding how much a price matters compared with a company number, and that weighting would be made up.
- Sectors, not names. The index never names individual businesses. Each study explains how firms were chosen, and businesses named in a study can ask for a right of reply.
- Every row is dated. When we re-run a study, the row changes and the old figure stays on record.
- Nobody pays. No business can pay to appear, to be left out or to change a result.
What it cannot tell you
- It does not say whether a particular business is good or honest. It shows what can and cannot be checked.
- Each row is one sector, one sample and one date. Rows are not directly comparable with each other.
- Samples are small, and the way businesses were found differs from study to study. Each study sets out its own method and limits.
When it changes
A row changes only when its study is re-run with the same method. We review the whole index every quarter and add new rows as new studies are published. The next review is due in January 2027.
How to cite it
Whito Truth Index, first edition, 30 October 2026. whito.co.uk/research/truth-index/. Free to quote with a link.
Spotted something wrong? Tell us at hello@whito.co.uk and we will check it. See how we handle corrections.
The structural checks behind this research run on any website in about twenty seconds. Enter yours and read the full result on the page. Free, and we do not ask for your email.
Run the free Visibility CheckIf your business is named here and you think we have a fact wrong, email hello@whito.co.uk and we will check it and correct it. If you want to respond, send us a statement and we will publish it alongside. Full detail: Corrections, right of reply and removals.
